ChicagoField Guide

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Eat

Lula Cafe

A mainstay in Chicago for over twenty years, Lula Cafe’s farm-to-table brunch offers seasonal fare cooked with fresh, locally-sourced ingredients alongside friendly service and an inviting atmosphere. Chef Jason Hammel ushered in Logan Square’s now-renowned foodie scene, but has kept Lula Cafe on the forefront with creative and inventive dishes.

Bad Hunter

Tucked in the former Meatpacking District, Bad Hunter is a celebration of the city’s culinary and farming history, showcasing everything but the meat. While not a dogmatically vegetarian restaurant, Chef Dan Snowden uses meat as a garnish or a side to the centerpiece veggie. Pair your meal with a pétillant natural wine — pét-nats, as they are known — which are naturally fermented and their flavor depends on each bottle’s storage. A thoughtfully laid-out space with a fresh, mid-century vibe, Bad Hunter promises a meal that will fill you up without weighing you down.

Pulled pork and beef brisket are slow smoked over a wood-burning fire at Honky Tonk BBQ, a rustic and authentic southern eatery in the Pilsen neighborhood. Live jazz from the Saloon Stage accompanies what many call the best BBQ north of Texas.

Honky Tonk BBQ

Head to Logan Square for a taste of Macau flavor–a fusion of Asian and Portuguese cuisine influenced by historic spice trade routes. Order the namesake arroz gordo, a paella-esque dish of meat, shellfish and pickles.

Fat Rice

Grab a seat at Radio Anago’s dimly-lit sushi bar, order a “Kyoto Tonic,” with Sipsmith gin, tonic, sansho pepper, and enjoy an edited menu of rolls and bites — from classic spicy tuna to bluefin nigiri.

Lonesome Rose

Drink

Haisous

The Hideout

From a “built-in-two-days” history to Wilco trying out new sounds that turned into ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ to Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth quelling a Chicago cop — the tales are taller than the drinks at Chicago’s perennial bar, The Hideout. A warm atmosphere with an extensive craft beer list, the laid-back lounge has been the Saturday stage for many soon-to-be famous acts.

Punch House

Tinkers to Evers

Snack

Doughnut Vault

Baked fresh daily –and inevitably running out of popular flavors–Doughnut Vault serves old-fashioned classics like buttermilk and lemon-poppy seed, as well as daily specials. Be sure to go early, what has been called the Best Doughnut in America tends to attract crowds.

Ipsento

The Crepe Shop

Shop

Tusk

Having as much in common with an art gallery as a vintage store, shop owner Mary Eleanor Wallace curated her online emporium before the brick and mortar that now inhabits Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. At Tusk, dreamy and minimalist white walls are painted with chic vintage and local picks. Offering customers an array of choice pieces alongside prints and accessories, Tusk is making a stand for Chicago’s fashion scene.

Humboldt House

Carefully curated by owner Claire Tibbs, Humboldt House pairs an affinity for art, design, and vintage finds with a passion for creating community through comfortable, aesthetic spaces. The shop features local makers’ goods, from textiles to ceramics, all artfully presented in Tibbs’ airy space.

Gather

Myopic

Recently opened and already a Chicago favorite, Eskell curates thoughtful and diverse home goods and accessories. The shop offers vintage and new furniture, and promises a new ‘treasure’ for your home.

Eskell

Do

Millennium Park Ice Skating

Skate below Chicago’s skyline at The McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, open from November 17–the same day at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting–to March 5. After you’ve triple Salchow-ed and pirouetted around the rink, head to the Art Institute to check out the wreathed lions and classic miniature Thorne Rooms.

THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO

Established in 1967, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is one of the world’s largest contemporary art venues, priding itself on championing the provocative side of art and culture. The MCA’s permanent collection, which pieces appear regularly in rotating exhibitions, includes more than 2,500 artworks that span media and movements from the 1920s to the present. Exhibitions feature art spanning every possible media: from sculpture to performance and everything in between.

Midwinter Music Festival

MUSIC BOX THEATRE

A collaboration of nature and architecture, the Garfield Park Conservatory is approximately 4.5 acres of “landscape art under glass.” The glass-paned greenhouse houses plants year round from ferns to palms alongside botanical-themed environments and showrooms.